Decorative article



Nov. 7, 1944. M. c. PHELPS 2,362,092

DECORATIVE ARTICLE Filed July 12, 194].

INVENTORV MAPS/mu C. Pill-2P5 BY ak-140 ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 7, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DECORATIVE ARTICLE Marshall C. Phelps, East Orange, NJ. Application July 12, 1941, Serial No. 402,248

4: Claims.

The present invention relates in general to decorative materiaLin particular to decorative material which may be formed into a decorative unit such as a fringe, valance, festoon or the like, and to a process for making the same, and includes correlated improvements designed to enhance the appearance, structure and utility, of such articles.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a decorative article which is sufliciently flexible to be hung or'draped, butof such nature as to be readily shipped and handled.

Another object of the invention is toprovide a decorative unit which comprises in combination a flexible sheet of glossy, light-reflecting material a and an opaque material, said unit; being characterized by novel visual effects.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a decorative unit having a visual appeal by including printed matter, such as the seaprovided, as an article of manufacture, a decorative unit comprising a flexible web of substantially opaque material combined with a flexible web of non-fibrous light-reflecting material, at least a portion of the material comprising saidunit being fringed. In a now preferred embodiment there is provided a decorative unit comprising a flexible metallic foil adhesively united with a flexible sheet of translucent or transparent non-fibrous light-reflecting material having printed matter thereon, the metallic foilbeing slit over a marginal portion thereof to form a fringe comprising a plurality of depending individual flexible strips, which strips are formed from and are a part of the metallic foil and/or said decorative unit, but which have limited freedom of movement with respect to said unit. The decora tiveunit may be otherwisetreated and/or decorated, such as by crimping over the entire unit or by crimping only over selected portions thereof, to form a plurality of irregular surfaces or facets capable of multi-directional reflection of light.

According to the present process of the invention, the decorative unit may be formed byuniting a web .ofmetallic foil with a web of nonfibrous light-reflecting materiaL preferably along predetermined longitudinal marginal portions of said materials, and slitting a second marginal following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention willbe indicated in the claims.

In the drawing which accompanies the specification and forms a part thereof and in which like characteristics refer to like parts throughout the several figures:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of one embodiment of means for forming and producing the article of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of a part of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of one embodiment of the article of the invention;

Fig. ,4 is an enlarged cross-section of a portion of the article of Fig. 3 taken at 1-1;

Figs. 5 to 10, inclusive, are enlarged views in elevation of as many embodiments of the article of the invention with-portions thereof broken away to show detail; and

Fig. 11 is an enlarged cross-section of a portion of the article of Fig. 10 taken at II+-II.

In the speciflcationand appended claims, the expression decorative unit is intended to include all classesof decorative material or unit sections thereof, such as valances, fringes, festoons, skirting and the like and other articles of allied shapes and structures which can be formed by the present invention. The expression opaque material is intended to include all classes of materials which may be formed into substantially flexible webs as sheets, films, pellicles, textiles, foils and the like which are opaque, non-transparent or semi-transparent, that is, of such a nature to form a substantially contrasting background for the light reflecting material by impeding or reflecting fight. I I

The invention accordinglycomprises three essential elements namely, theopaque material, the non-fibrous light-reflecting materiaL and the means for unitinglor combining the opaque material with the non-flbrous light-reflecting material.

As a class, the opaque material which may be used in the invention may be formed of fibrous, non-fibrous, metallic or non-metallic materials, or combinations of such materials and may comprise such materials in the form of flexible webs, pellicles, foils, films, textiles, papers, sheets and the like. Fibrous materials which may be used comprise textiles, papers, webs and sheets formed in whole or in part of wood pulp, cotton, linen, silk, asbestos, glass, leather, rayon, synthetic resins and the like. Non-fibrous materials which ma be employed as the opaque material, in whole or in part, comprise webs, pellicles, films and sheets of organic plastic and/or cellulosic materials such as regenerated cellulose, cellulose ethers, cellulose esters, mixed cellulose etheresters, synthetic resins, gelatin, casein, rubber hydrochloride, synthetic rubber, rubber substitutes, and the like. The cellulose ethers may include the alkyl, hydroxy-alkyl, carboxy-al kyl, and aryl derivatives of cellulose, or mixtures of such materials; the cellulose esters may include cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, nitro-cellulose acetate, etc. Synthetic resins which may be used comprise such film-forming resins as urea-formaldehyde resins, the coumarones, vinyl resins, alkyd resins and the like. Such materials may be rendered opaque before, during or after formation into the article of the invention, within the meaning of the term as herein defined, in manner known to the art. Any of the above-mentioned non-fibrous materials, if so desired, may be metalized or rendered substantially opaque by spraying the Webs, sheets, pellicles, films or foils with metal particles or with a lacquer containing metal particles. The opaque material may be flame-proofed or fire-proofed before manufacture, or after manufacture by use of suitable fire-proofing agents, such as boric acid, ammonium sulphate, sodium stannate, phosphoric acid salts and the like, all of which may be combined with the opaque materials by coating or impregnating. It is to be understood that the webs, pellicles, foils and sheets of the non-fibrous organic plastic materials, as well as the non-fibrous cellulosic materials of the invention may be rendered flexible by suitable plasticizing agents known to the art before, during, or after forming the materials into the article of the invention.

Further, the opaque material of the invention may be formed of flexible metallic webs, pellicles, sheets, films, and foils formed of tin, copper, lead, antimony, aluminum, manganese and the like, and combinations of these materials, and their alloys. Alternatively, there may be employed as the opaque material a combination of fibrous or non-fibrous materials or metallic or non-metallic materials, such as may be formed b combining as by coating, impregnating or laminating such materials.

The materials which may be used to form the opaque material of the invention may be colored, printed, dyed, sprayed, or otherwise treated to form various effects before, during or after formation of the article, or they may be employed with out such treatment.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the opaque material is formed of metal foil, such as lead foil comprising an alloy of lead, tin and antimony. Alternatively metallized paper. or other metallized fibrous or non-fibrous material, such as a metallized sheet of paper or regenerated cellulose may be used as the opaque material.

As a class, the non-fibrous light-reflecting material which may be used in combination with the opaque material to form the article of the invention may be formed in whole or in part of such non-fibrous materials which may be used to form the opaque material of the invention. As a class, such non-fibrous light-reflecting materials comprise Webs, pellicles, foils, films, tapes, sheets and tions of cellulosic materials dissolved in organic and/or inorganic solvents. Organic plastic materials which may be employed in whole or in part and which form flexible structures as pellicles, films and sheets, comprise organic plastic materials such as synthetic resins, urea-formaldehyde resins, the styrenes, vinyl resins, the polyamides of dicarboxylic acids such as nylon resins, methyl-methacrylate resins, and the like. Other organic film forming materials as casein, gelatin, chlorinated rubber, rubber substitutes and the like may be employed to form the nonfibrous light-reflecting material of the invention. The non-fibrous light-reflecting material may be fiame-proofed, fire-proofed, or otherwise treated before, during or after manufacture by coating or impregnating in manner known to the art.

The non-fibrous light-reflecting material may be inherently transparent or non-transparent, or it may be treated to render it such before, during or after manufacture of the article, and such material may be further treated as by printing, coloring, dyeing, spraying and otherwise decorating with effect material. It is also to be understood that the non-fibrous light-reflecting material may be treated before, during and/or after forming it into the article with heat-sealing compositions, softening agents, swelling agents, and/ or moisture-proofing agents.

In the now preferred embodiment there is employed as the non-fibrous light-reflecting material, such non-fibrous glossy pellicles as are normally translucent, transparent or semi-transparent as a sheet or film of cellulose acetate, a synthetic resin as a vinyl resin, or Cellophane. The non-fibrous light-reflecting material in the preferred embodiment bears printed matter which may be printed thereon in the normal manner, or in the case of transparent pellicles printed so as to be observed by viewing the printing beneath the surface of such transparent material. Such pellicles, as well as the opaque material, may be cut so as to have continuous parallel edges, or an edge thereof may be slit or otherwise treated by cutting to form a fringe, scallop, fancy designs or convolutions.

Referring to the drawing, in Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown means for forming the article of the invention by feeding. a continuous web of opaque material H from supply roll it between co-acting tension rollers [2, simultaneously feeding therebetween a continuous web of non-fibrous light-reflecting material l3 from supply roll 9 and having an edge 7 parallel to, and substantially coinciding with a marginal edge portion 8 of the web of opaque material H. Preferably, the web of opaque material I! is wider than that of the non-fibrous light-reflecting material I3. After passing the webs of material between the co acting rollers I2 the contiguous webs may be combined by means of adhesive tape I4 applied along and folded over the respective marginal edges I and 8 by means of tape folding device 4. After the materials are thus assembled they are passed between pressure rollers I5 and thento cutting roller I6 which co-acts with a soft pressure roller I'I, whereby the opaque material is cut to form a plurality of parallel strips 23 at spaced intervals. Cutting roller I6 is designed to cut the opaque material to the exclusion of the nonfibrous light-reflecting material to form a plurality of strips ofthe opaque material, but it is to be understood that the cutting roller may be otherwise adjusted to cut the material in a variety of other ways, or the roller may be substituted by asecond roller (not shown) having cutting surfaces or fins extended so as to out a portion of both the non-fibrous and opaque ma terial, or merely over pre-selected portions thereof. For example, sections of the cutting fins 20 of the roller may be blocked out by means of tape or like material wound over an area of the cutting roller, as over section 6. Thus the opaque material I0, such as lead foil, may be cut by the projecting fins 26 to form strips as tinsel or fringe 23.

After the article has thus been slit over predetermined areas it is passed between co-acting crimping rollers I8, which rollers may be designed to, crimp over the entire article, or over only a restricted portion of the article, similar in that respect to the cutting rollers, to provide crimps 34. After the article is assembled, and/or slit to formdepending strips, and/or crimped, it may be wound on a mandrel or other suitable device to form a roll 38, or it may be cut into convenient lengths for immediate use as it comes from the assembly line. The rate of feed of the nonfibrous light-reflecting material may be substantially the same as that of the opaque material, or one material may be fed at a faster rate of speed with respect to the other material, in order toprovide pleats in the sheet material fed at the faster rate. i

In order to provide reinforcement and means for hanging the decorative unit, cord I9 is fed into tape-folding device 4 along with and substantially coinciding with the central axis of the adhesive tape I4 as the tape is being folded'and adhered'to a marginal portion of the light-reflecting material and the opaque material. The

, cord may be omitted from the article if other means of reinforcing, hanging and/or combining the materials are desired or employed, as described hereinafter.

Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown a preferred embodiment of a view of a portion of the article of the invention in elevation having a portion thereof broken away, comprising a web of opaque material II, such as tin-foil, combined with a web of non-fibrous light-reflecting material I3 of narrower width and having advertising mat ter 22 printed thereon. The web of opaque material is slit at regular intervals, but substantially below the width of light-reflecting material, to form a plurality of strips 23 which at tachedly hang freely from the article, said strips being treated to form crimps 34. The respective webs are shown as being combined along a top marginalportion thereof by adhesive tape I4. The articleis shown as having a cord string I9 running through the central portion of the adhesive tape I4 and along the top edge of the sheet material as means for aiding the assembly of the article, as well as reinforcing and/or supporting the article. The adhesive tape is doubled over the top marginal edge of the respective materials, approximately one-half of the adhesive tape overlapping one face of the article and another'portion of the tape adhering to a marginaledge of the opposite face of the article (not shown).

There is illustrated in Fig. 4 an enlarged crosssectional end-view of the article taken along section I-I of Fig. 3, showing opaque material I I combined with the non-fibrous light-reflecting material I3 by means of adhesive tape I4, having cord I9 running lengthwise through a central portion of the adhesive surface of tape I4, and along the top edge of the combined materials. Printed matter 22 is shown as applied to the outer surface of light-reflecting material I3. The opaque material is treated to provide crimps 34 in the depending strips 23.

In Figs. 5 to 10, inclusive, there is shown as many fragmentary enlarged views in elevation of sections of various embodiments of the article of the invention, having portions thereof broken away to show detail. In Fig. 5 there is illustrated one embodiment of the article in which opaque material I I is shown as having a plurality of parallel cuts made transversely through the entire web, forming separate individual strips 23, the ends of the strips bound and supported by means of the adhesive I4. A web of printed fibrous material, such as a sheet of paper 24 bearing printed matter 22, is positioned substantially parallel to and spaced from a marginal edge 8 of said opaque material II formed by and comprising the series of individual strips 23. A web of non-fibrous transparent light-reflecting material I3 is positioned substantially parallel to and spaced from said marginal edge of printed paper 24, the various materials assembled in position and held together by means of another portion of the adhesive tape I4" not employed in supporting the opaque material; A cord I9 previously treated with a liquid adhesive is illustrated running along the top edge of said assembly with the tape, thus providing means for additional adhesive reinforcement and support for the article. By observing such printed matter on the paper Web 24 by viewing the printing through the transparent material 25 interesting optical efiects may be produced, while at the same time the said overlying layer of transparent light-reflecting material protects the. underlying printed matter from becoming blemished or defaced.

In Fig. 6 there is illustrated a partial view in elevation of another embodiment of the article having the printed matter 22 disposed on the reverse surface of a sheet of non-fibrous transparent light-reflecting material I3 which in turn is combined with a sheet of opaque material II, said sheet of opaque material having a greater width than that of the transparent light-reflecting material. The opaque material is shown as having a marginal portion thereof slit in predetermined areas to form substantially parallel strips 23, which strips are crimped to form rippled surfaces or orimps 34. The top edges of the respective materials are united by means of a transparent or opaque adhesive tape I4 and the lower marginal edge of the transparent light-reflecting material is further united to the opaque material by means of a second transparent or non-transparent adhesive tape 26 positioned along said lower edge of the light-reflecting ma terial and overlapping a portion of the edge of the opaque material to seal the edges of the respective materials together. The adhesive tape l4 and 26 and/or the adhesive may be printed or colored if desired to provide interesting effects.

In Fig. 7 there is illustrated another embodiment of the article of the invention wherein a printed sheet of non-fibrous light-reflecting material I3 is attached to one surface of the opaque material II by means of adhesive tape l9. Further adhesive material (not shown) may also be employed as desired. A second sheet of nonfibrous light-reflecting material 13 is shown attached to the opposite face of the opaque material in a similar manner. A marginal portion of the opaque material II is slit to form the individual depending strips 23. A cord I9 is provided so as to extend beyond the ends of the article in order to provide rigidity and support. In this manner the article may be hung and supported by the ends of the cord, as for example, through the middle of a room and thus the printed matter 22 may thus be viewed from both sides of the article.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 8 wherein there is shown an enlarged View in elevation of the article having a portion broken away to show detail. The opaque material H is combined with the non-fibrous transparent light-reflecting material l3, the aforesaid materials being secured together by means of adhesive tape 14, and further adhered by means of a layer of adhesive composition 21, preferably pressure-sensitive and/or transparent and preferably disposed between the opaque material and the non-fibrous light-reflecting material along a central portion, or below the central portion thereof as along the edges. The opaque material is further treated as by cutting a marginal portion to form individual strips 23, and the material further treated by scalloping the bottom of the opaque material to form scallops 2t. Printed matter 22 maybe disposed over the light-reflecting ma erial and/or the opaque material or both, before or after forming the article.

In Fig. 9 there isillustrated a partial view of a further embodiment of the article of the invention in enlarged elevation wherein the non-fibrous light-reflecting material l3 bearing printed matter 22 is shown as being combined with the opaque material I l by means of sewing theaforesaid materials together with a sewing thread 29.

By employing sewing thread as a means for combining the materials no adhesive need be employed to combine the materials to form the article. If desired, the non-fibrous light-reflecting material l3 may be fed into the sewing machine at greater rate of speed than the opaque material, thus providing a pleated effect 3| in the non-fibrous light-reflecting material. The opaque material may be cut to form individual strips in manner described, and may be orimped over selected areas.

In Fig. 1.0 there is illustrated a further embodiment of a partial view of the invention in enlarged elevation, wherein the sheet of opaque material l l is printed over a selected portion as with printing matter 22. The opaque material is further treated along a marginal portion with an adhesive composition 2'! and the strip of nonfibrous transparent light-reflecting material i3 is attached to said adhesively treated marginal portion of the opaque material to adhere thereto, along a marginal portion thereof, but somewhat spaced away from the edge 8 of the adhesively treated marginal portion. The remaining margin 33 of the opaque material bearing the adhesive but not attached to the light-reflecting material is folded over the marginal edge I of the transparent light-reflecting material and sealed there- I to to maintain the transparent material in position over the printing on the opaque material, thus permitting one to observe the printing through the transparent material and at the same time protecting the printed matter borne by the opaque material from becoming defaced. Further adhesive composition may be employed to adhere the materials forming the article if so desired. In this manner the use of adhesive tape may be avoided. Alternatively the non-fibrous lightrefl sting material may bear the printing (not shown). The portion of the article not printed or adhesively treated may be cut over a predetermined area to form the freely hanging depending parallel strips 23. In the illustration the article is shown. as being uncrimped, but the article may be crimp-ed in whole or in part if so desired. A cord or string (not shown) may be inserted within and alon the overlapped portion of the folded edge of the opaque material if desired.

In Fig. ll there is illustrated an enlarged cross-sectional view of Fig. 10 taken at IIII, wherein the sheet of opaque material H having printed matter 22 thereon is shown as having a marginal portion treated with adhesive composition 21. The strip of transparent light-reflecting material 13 is applied to a portion of the adhesively-treated margin of the opaque material, but spaced away from the edge 8 thereof and the remainder of the adhesively treated margin including the edge 8 of the opaque material is bent over the edge 7 of the-light-reflecting material. The materials are then contacted and thus united. A portion of a depending strip of opaque material H is shown as 23.

Many variations in forming the article will suggest themselves. For example, the light-reflecting material may be lapped over the opaque material and sealed to a marginal portion thereof, or the opaque material may be overlapped upon itself along a top marginal portion to provide additional strength along the newly-formed edge and the light-reflecting material then sealed to the opaque material, as along the overlapped edge.

Adhesive compositions or adhesive tapes may be included or omitted, the nature of such adhesives depending upon the nature of the materials employed. The adhesives, as well as the adhesive borne by an adhesive tap-e, may be of aqueous or nomaqueo-us variety, pressure-sensitive, heatsealable, or sealable upon evaporation of a solvent. The adhesive may be colored, uncolored and/or transparent.

The foils or pellicles of the materials employed in forming the article be treated as by coating with a heat=sealing composition, or they may be formed partly or entirely of inherently heatsealable material such as heat-sealable cellulose esters, thermoplastic resins and the like, and such pellicles may be united to said foils over the entire contacting area or over a restricted area only, as by means of heat-sealing rollers or other sealing devices. 7

Other variations may be employed for combining the article of the invention, such as by uniting the various pellicles, sheets, webs and foils by means of metallic fasteners, rivets, by merely crimping the several materials to bind and secure them together, etc.

The reinforcing or supporting means, if such be employed, may comprise cords, strings, tapes, twines, and/or other fibrous or non-fibrous materials in the shape of a cord, tape or string, and

such supporting means may run the entire length of the article of the invention, or such cords may be used with the article at or near an end portion of the article or a section thereof. Alternatively, there may be employed various other means to unite and/or support the article, as tapes, hooks, eyelets, fasteners and the like. The cord, tape, twine, string or other supporting means may be treated or untreated such as by pre-treating with a size or adhesive, or such may be dyed, colored or otherwise treated to render it adhesive or merely decorative.

Before or after manufacture, the article may be further embellished and/or decorated [by decorating the entire article, body or depending strips thereof with coloring matter such as metallic powders, inks, or paint to produce varied efiects, as snow, icicles and other natural efiects; also those created by employing colored printing inks.

Among the advantages of the present invention there is provided a decorative article of manufacture, useful in decorating stores, halls, show windows, sales-rooms, grill rooms and soda fountains, with the printed matter advertising seasonal festivities, beverages, trade-names, annual sales, merchandise and the like. The article is further characterized by simplicity of construction, low cost of manufacture, and distinctive eye-appeal. Unusual optical effects are produced in'the article, due to the combination of the refractive indices of the printed matter, the non-fibrous light-reflecting material and the opaque material. It is of a substantially permanent character and may be stored and re-used from time to time as on seasonal occasions.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above process, and certain modifications in the article 'which'embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description (or shown in the accompanying drawing) shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a decorative unit comprising a flexible web of opaque metallic material, a co-extending flexible web of nonfibrous light-reflecting organic plastic material of width less than said opaque metallic material, so arranged that one edge ofthe web of said plastic material coincides with one edge of said opaque metallic material, at least a portion of the tap posite edge of said opaque material being fringed, said decorative unit bearing indicia extending over the unfringed portion thereof, a supporting element attached to said unit adjacent to the marginal edge opposite said fringed portion and binding means to hold the webs together.

2. As an 'article of manufacture, a decorative unit comprising a flexible web of opaque metallic material, a co-extending flexible web of nonfibrous transparent material of width less than said opaque metallic material, 50 arranged that one edge of the web of said non-fibrous material coincides with one edge of said opaque metallic material, at least a portion of the opposite edge of said opaque metallic material being fringed, indicia disposed between the transparentmaterial and the opaque metallic material, a supporting element attached to said unit adjacent to the marginal edge opposite said fringed portion, and binding means to hold the webs together.

3. As an article of manufacture, a decorative unit comprising a flexible web of opaque metallic material, a co-extending flexible web of nonfibrous transparent material of width less than said opaque metallic material, so arranged that one edge of the web of said non-fibrous material coincides with one edge of said opaque metallic material, at least a portion of the opposite edge of said opaque metallic material being fringed,

indicia disposed on the surface of said nonfibrous transparent material, a supporting element attached to said unit adjacent to the marginal edge, and binding means to hold the webs together.

4. As an article of manufacture, a. decorative unit comprising a flexible web of opaque metallic material, a co-extending flexible web or" nonfibrous light-reflecting organic plastic material of width less than said opaque metallic material, so arranged that one edge of the web of said plastic material coincides with one edge of said opaque metallic material, at least a portion of the opposite edge of said opaque material being fringed, said fringe of said metallic material being crimped, said decorative unit bearing indicia extending over the unfringed portion thereof, a s pporting element attached to said unit adjacent to the marginal edge opposite said fringed portion and binding means to hold the webs together.

MARSHALL C. PHELPS. 

